Coin controlled circuit control



1933- G. SHARPNACK 1,933,686

COIN CONTROLLED CIRCUIT CONTROL Filed Dec. 9, 1951 are I 12 1 1:9 are 2 gwuankw Geo. Sharymiwk as mM Q,

Patented Nov. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COIN CONTROLLED CIRCUIT CONTROL George Sharpnaek, Lincoln, Nebr., assignor to Program Service Company, Lincoln, Nebr., a corporation of Nebraska My invention relates to coin controlled circuit controls for closing electrical circuits by means of coins of the proper denomination inserted in a slot device.

One of the objects or" the invention is the provision of adevice wherein a mercury or other switch is actuated by a coin due solely to the weight of the coin and having no levers, springs or other elements commonly found in devices of this kind.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a mercury or other switch which closes a circuit and which maintains the circuit in closed position while the coin is in operative position, the coin being in a leaning position to fall by gravity except for a latch which contacts with the upper edge of the coin.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a circuit closing lever for supporting a coin and having means for releasing the coin from the lever so that the release of the weight of the coin will cause the lever to move into circuit opening position.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a circuit closing lever with means for supporting a coin in a. leaning position and having means engaging the top edge of the coin for preventing the coin from falling 01f the lever so that coins or slugs which are too light to actuate the lever or which are of too small a diameter will fail to close the circuit except momentarily.

'Another object of the invention is the provision of a slot and coin operated device which is so constructed that it is impossible to insert a piece of wire or other instrument to actuate the lever to circuit closing position.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a circuit closing lever with a coin retaining lever which are provided with adjustable stops whereby the device may be adjusted to be actuated by pennies, nickels, dimes, or quarters without other change of apparatus except in the two adjustments.

Another object is the provision of a device of the character specified having a coin retaining lever with means for releasing thevlever, the energy required to release the lever being very slight as compared with the prior lever releasing devices.

Having in view these objects and others which will be ponted out in the following description, I will now refer to the drawing, in which Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the rear portion of the coin controlled device and showing in perspective all of the operating mechanism.

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of the cover for the coin controlled mechanism.

Figure 3 is an'elevational face view of a fragment of the coin controlled mechanism showing various positions of the coin and'showing also the eiiect of the trip lever on the coin and the effect of the coin on the switch lever.

The base of the device isindicated by the numeral 10. This is provided with a pair of pins 11 projecting upwardly from the ears 12, the parts 10, 11 and 12 being of integral construction. At the lower edge is a projecting ear 13. The cover 14tshown in Figure 2 seats over the edge of the base plate 10 with the pins 11 projecting into theapertures 15.- The coverhas a lock 15 which is actuated by means of a key for securing the cover to the base plate 10 through the projection 13.

The cover 14 is provided with a coin slot 16a. A coin introduced through the slot lcawill fall onto the upper portion 17 of aslide which has a lower reverse curved or angled portion 18. The slide is secured to the base plate 10. operating with this slide is a slide 19 which is spaced from the slide 13 a suflicient distance to freely accommodate the coin, the distance being slightly greater than the thickness of the coin.- It should be noted that the slide 18 and the slide '19 both have a downward and lateral inclination which results in a slight tilting of the coin as it' passes downwardly. A

The purpose of the present device is to-close an electrical circuit having its spaced terminals at 20. These consist of conductors which are secured to a plate 21 of insulating material and they are provided with means at 22 for the connection of electrical conductors. The circuit thus remains open until the gap between the terminals 20 is closed by means of a conductor. Under the terminals 20 is a switch lever consisting of two members. One of these is the lever member proper which consists of insulating material and which is shown at 23, its pivotal connection being shown at 24. The lever issuitably weighted at 25 and it is provided with a socket 26 for the reception of a drop of mercury. The aperture 26 'is immediately underneath the terminals 20 so that the raising of the socketed end of the lever will bring the mercury into contact with both terminals to close the circuit. The switch lever 23 is provided with an extension 27, the free end portion of which is in alignment with the lower portion 18 of the slide. At its extremity the extension 27 is rounded and upturned at 28 for supporting the lower edge of the com.

Since the coin rests in an inclined position on the extension 27, it would fall as soon as it comes into contact with the curved portion 28 unless its upper edge were engaged to prevent falling. For this purpose I have provided a lever 29 pivotally connected to the base 10 at 30 and having its free extremity below and in the plane of the guide member 19. The leaning coin on the extension 2'7 will thus rest with its upper edge against the free edge of the lever 29 and will thus be prevented from falling. The lever 29 is provided with a stop member 31 to limit the downward movement of the free end of the lever 29.

For lifting the lever 29 to permit the coin to fall, there is provided an electromagnet 32 having conductors 33 for connection with a switch which may be operated manually or by means of a clock or in any other desired manner. When the electromagnet is energized by the closing of the electromagnet circuit, the lever 29 responds as an armature so that the free end of the lever 29 is raised above the upper edge of the coin. The coin, which is shown at 34 in Figure 3, immediately dropsrfrom its leaning position into the coin receptacle 35.. Since it is only the weight of the coin which keeps the circuit closed through the terminals 20, the release of that weight will immediately restore the lever 23 to its inoperative position with an open circuit through the terminals 20.

The device is capable of adaptation to coins of various sizes and, in fact, an adaptation through adjustment is possible fora number of coins. To some extent the thickness of the coins receivable by the mechanism is determined by the space between the lower slide portion 18 and the slide 19. The coin must have suflicient weight to depress the extension 27 of the lever 23 which at the same time raises the socket end of the switch lever to close the circuit through the globule of mercury in the socket 26. Adjustment is possible by increasing or decreasing the weight 25. In order to adjust the device for coins of different diameters, the set screw 36 may be turned either up or down to elevate or depress the curved support 28. Likewise the set screw 31 may be adjusted to elevate or depress the free end of the lever 29. With both of these adjustments the distance from the free end of the lever'29 to the curved support 28 may be adjusted within rather wide limits. To make the operation or" the solenoid 32 more certain, the lever 29 is provided with a counterbalancing spring 3'7 which is also adjustable by means of any suitable adjusting device as that shown at 38.

In order to prevent the insertion of a coin of the proper size with a string attached to it for retrieving the coin, there is further provided a latch or catch 39 which is pivotally connected to the lower portion 18 of the slide to suspend therefrom in as nearly vertical a position as is permitted by the member 19. A coin which passes the latch 39 will therefore be engaged by the latch so that it can not be withdrawn. I also provide means for preventing the insertion of a flexible wire which might be shoved through the coin slot to trip the lever 23 by depressing the extension 27. The difficulty of doing this would be quite great on account of the numerous turns which the wire must make in its path from the coin slot to the seat on the lever. If it could I be successfully directed downwardly against the slide 1'7, the end of the wire would come into contact with the slide 19 which would in all probability stop the further movement of the wire. To make it even more diificult to employ a wire in this manner, I provide sockets or apertures at 40 in the direct path of the wire from the coin slot. The end of the wire will thus quickly seat within one of the apertures or sockets 40 and it will then be exceedingly difficult to manipulate the wire to slide down the coin path, this being especially true since the sockets or apertures 40 are entirely concealed.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the switch is operated directly by the coin due to the weight of the coin and that no unnecessary mechanism such as levers and springs is required. In its operative position the coin is tipped so that it would fall by gravity except for the trip lever 29 which functions as an armature for the magnet 32 so that it may be tripped by closing the circuit through the magnet 32 to release the coin. The energy of the magnet may be very slight since the trip lever 29 engages merely the top edge of the coin which thus ofiers no frictional resistance. The trip lever or armature 29 is further counterbalanced by means of the spring 37 thus further reducing the amount or energy required for the magnet 32. The spring 37 is further adjustable for increasing or decreasing its tension.

Another important feature or the invention is the means whereby the device may be adjusted for coins of various sizes and particularly for coins of various diameters. The weight-of the coin necessary for actuating the lever 23 must be such as toovercome the weight of the member 25. This weight may be increased or decreased in accordance with the weights of the various coins. The coin rests on the curved extremity 28 of the lever extension and its extreme upper edge rests against the edge of the trip lever 29. The distance between these two points may be increased or decreased by means of the two set screws 31 and 36. While the device was designed and constructed initially and primarily for use with dimes, the range of adjustment is such that it may be used for pennies, nickels, dimes, or quarters without further changes in the construction except the use of a cover 14 having a slot 16 of the proper dimensions for the insertion of the desired coin.

The device which I show and describe is explicit and detailed to the form of device which I have constructed and put into use. Numerous changes, however, are possible. The lever 23 with its extension 27 may readily be made in integral form. The socket 26 is designed for retaining mercury which is probably the most satisfactory substance for use for closing the circuit through the terminals 20. It is obvious, however, that any liquid which constitutes a good conductor may be employed in.the place of the mercury, In fact it is not even necessary that a liquid conductor switch be employed since any other suitable switching mechanism at 26 may be employed for i what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A coin actuated circuit controlling device in-' cluding a lever having a socket for the reception of a liquid conductor, a pair of spaced terminals positioned in the path of the socket of said lever, means on said lever for supporting a coin in leaning position to thereby actuate said lever into circuit closing position, a leaning chute for slid ably conducting the coin to said lever, means for retaining the coin on said lever in leaning position against said retaining means, and means for releasing said retaining means to thereby release said lever to circuit opening position.

2. A coin actuated circuit controlling device including a circuit closing lever, means on said lever for supporting a coin in leaning position to thereby actuate and retain said lever in circuit closing position, a trip lever for contacting with the upper edge of the leaning coin for retaining the coin on said lever, means for tripping said trip lever to thereby release the coin from said circuit closing lever, and adjustably positioned stop members for both of said levers whereby said device may be adjusted to the diameter of the coin.

3. In a coin actuated circuit controlling device, a downwardly and laterally inclined chute for slidably receiving a coin, said chute having a pair of spaced apart walls divergent at the receiving extremity of said chute and parallel at the delivery extremity thereof, one of said walls being inclined first downwardly and in one direction and then downwardly and in the other direction whereby the coin will slide first on one of the walls and then on the other of said walls, a circuit closing lever having means for engaging the coin in leaning position directly underneath the delivery extremity of said chute, means for retaining the coin in leaning position on said lever, and means for releasing said retaining means.

4. In a coin actuated circuit controlling device, an enclosure having a coin slot in one wall thereof, a chute for siidably receiving the coin from said coin slot, a wall of said enclosure being provided with a plurality of sockets in the mouth of said chute and opposite said coin slotto function as stops for limiting the entrance of a wire into said device, said chute having a pair of spaced apart wallsat the mouth thereof and parallel at the delivery extremity thereof, one of said walls being inclined first downwardly and in one direction and then downwardly and in the other direction whereby the coin will slide first on one of the walls and then on the other of said walls, a circuit closing lever having means for engaging the coin in leaning position directly underneath the delivery extremity of said chute, means for retaining the coin in leaning position on said lever, and means for releasing said retaining means.

GEORGE SHARPNACK. 

